Cursor vs Zed | agentconfig.ing

Cursor vs ZedComparisonUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

Cursor (IDE) uses mdc configuration while Zed (Editor) uses markdown. They differ on 5 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

Feature	Cursor	Zed	Notes
Config format	mdc	markdown
Hierarchy support	✓	✓	Whether config files can be placed at multiple directory levels
Global config	✓	✓	User-wide configuration outside any project
Project config	✓	✓
Subdirectory scoping	✓	✗	Config files in subdirectories that apply only to that subtree
File inclusion / imports	✗	✗	Ability to include or reference other files from config
Ignore file	.cursorignore	✗
IDE integration	✓	Editor
Schema / structure	Hybrid (MDC frontmatter + Markdown)	Free-form (Markdown)	Whether config uses structured schema or free-form content
Git committed	✓	✓	Whether primary config files are intended to be version-controlled
Encoding	UTF-8	UTF-8

FILE MAPPING

Purpose	Cursor	Zed
Project rules	.cursor/rules/*.mdc	.rules

SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES

Cursor

.cursor/rules/*.mdc

mdc

---
description: React component conventions and patterns
globs: "*.tsx"
alwaysApply: false
---

# React Component Rules

- Use functional components with explicit return types
- Define props interface directly above the component
- Export components as named exports, never default
- Use Tailwind CSS utility classes exclusively

Zed

.rules

markdown

# Project Rules

## Stack
- TypeScript 5.x with strict mode
- React 19 with Server Components
- Tailwind CSS v4
- Drizzle ORM with PostgreSQL

## Code Style
- Prefer named exports over default exports
- Use "use client" directive only when interactivity is required
- Colocate tests in __tests__ directories next to source files
- Use Zod for all runtime validation

## Architecture
- App Router with nested layouts in app/
- Server actions in app/actions/
- Database schema in db/schema.ts
- Shared utilities in lib/

## Commands
- Dev server: pnpm dev
- Type check: pnpm typecheck
- Test: pnpm test
- Lint: pnpm lint

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Config format

Cursor: mdc. Zed: markdown.

2. Subdirectory scoping

Cursor: Supported. Zed: Not supported.

3. Ignore file

Cursor: .cursorignore. Zed: Not supported.

4. IDE integration

Cursor: Supported. Zed: Editor.

5. Schema / structure

Cursor: Hybrid (MDC frontmatter + Markdown). Zed: Free-form (Markdown).

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Cursor, configure .cursorrules. If you use Zed, configure .rules. Many projects include config files for multiple tools so each team member can use their preferred editor.

PORTABILITY TIP

sync-instructions.sh

bash

# Maintain a single source of truth:
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md CLAUDE.md
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md .cursorrules
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md AGENTS.md